The Logan County Sheriff’s Office arrested two men in connection with the May shooting death of a Paris man.
Harry Bodine, 53, and Brett Bodine, 51 were arrested Wednesday (Sept. 25) on suspicion of first degree murder and hindering apprehension in the death of 33-year-old Joseph Stapleton, according to Logan County Chief Deputy David Spicer.
Formal charges were filed Friday and bond was set at $1 million for each defendant.
On May 14, Stapleton was found lying dead in the front yard of his home on North 5th Street in Paris that morning. He'd been shot multiple times.
"When there's no eyewitnesses to actually see anyone actually pull the trigger, you have to start putting it together and when you have a crime scene that's outdoors theres not always a lot of evidence to tie someone to the scene," Spicer said. "So you've got to do a lot of work and a whole lot of talking to a whole lot of people. So that's what they did. They spent a lot of hours [working the case]."
Investigators with both Arkansas State Police sand the Logan County Sheriff's Office interrogated the two brothers about Stapleton's death Wednesday. Both Bodines were taken into custody due to statements made which authorities said tied them to the crime.
Stapleton's family told investigators they're relieved the case is at this point.
"They're relieved that someone's finally been arrested," Spicer said. "They've been very patient. They know this has been a hard case for our investigators."
The Bodines are scheduled to be in court on Oct. 11 for their plea arraignments, Spicer said.